Big Brother can identify most of the capital letters, but has a harder time with the lower-case. So we decided to make a matching game that incorporated hearts seeing that Valentines Day is only 5 days away. Identifying capital and lower-case letters is not really knowledge that a 3-year old needs to know, but Big Brother is especially interested in letters/words, so we love to practice. I really should spend more time on gross motor activities…that is the area of development that he struggles with the most (which is interesting, especially since he has SO MUCH energy)!
Here’s what you’ll need: Capital letters printed on cardstock and cut in half, red and/or pink construction paper, marker.
1. Print off the capital letters onto cardstock. I printed 6 letters on each piece of paper and then cut them in half. Then I laminated them so that I can reuse them again with a different theme. After that, cut out 3″x3″ squares from pink and red construction paper.
2. Draw a heart and each lower-case letter on each 3″x3″ piece of construction paper.
3. Lay out the half-sheets of paper (with the capital letters) on the floor.
4. Give your little one the stack of lower-case letters and let him/her get started.
I had to help Big Brother with several of the lower-case letters, but I was actually really surprised with how well he was able to match the majority himself!
I just happened to see these Scrabble Cheez-Its on my way down the cracker aisle…
10 Comments
please don't be concerned about a three year old not knowing his uppercase letters, let alone his lowercase letters. I am all for introducing the alphabet to little ones and teaching them, but sometimes I wonder if we teach them too much. I mean, what will they do when they get to school and "know everything"? What will the poor teacher do? I don't mean to be judgemental or negative, just concerned from one mom teacher to another.
This is a great idea! For my daughter, I made a "Memory"-style game with upper and lower case letters. We didn't play with the whole set at once, because that was a LOT of cards for a 3 year old to work with, but she enjoyed it!
I hear you! I'm not really "concerned" about Big Brother knowing his uppercase and lower-case letters…it is just something that HE is really interested in. He LOVES any activity involving letters, so that is what we chose to do. I changed the wording at the top of the post to convey that this is not something 3-year olds NEED to know, just something he enjoys.
I think his teacher will have PLENTY to work on with him…gross and fine motor control and learning to not take toys away from other people! That poor woman/man will have her work cut out for her! ;)
I will have to try this. My (almost 3 year old) daughter also loves letters and she would love this. I agree with your last comment, she may know her letters, but there are a lot of other things she will have to work on when she gets to school.
I think it's great that you teach your kids things that they are interested in. I don't think you should hold knowledge back from your kids if they are ready and interested. Keep up the good work and good idea! I knew how to read before I entered kindergarten and I always did my brothers homework right along side him (he was two years older than I was) all throughout elementary because I was interested. I never felt that it hindered me at all, in fact it provided me with opportunities to serve and help those in my class that were behind.
Hey Jenae, I really do enjoy reading the various activities that you do with your kids and it makes me wonder how I can be better organized with planning and doing activities. do you do your activities on a whim or do you plan them out? I don't want to get too specific with planning at the young ages my kids are, because they do need to have some flexibility (especially with our lives), but I don't want to forget about guiding them and helping them. thoughts?
Thanks for your question! I actually don't plan in advance…almost everything we do is on a whim! I wish I was one of those people who plans everything days, weeks, and months in advance, but I'm not…at least not in this phase of life. I would just concentrate on doing something intentional for 10-15 minutes each day with each of your children. It doesn't sound like much, but even that little bit will do a world of good!
Love this activity!! My son is also very interested in letters, so this would be fun to try. Maybe we'll do a shamrock variation on it later this week!
please don't be concerned about a three year old not knowing his uppercase letters, let alone his lowercase letters. I am all for introducing the alphabet to little ones and teaching them, but sometimes I wonder if we teach them too much. I mean, what will they do when they get to school and "know everything"? What will the poor teacher do? I don't mean to be judgemental or negative, just concerned from one mom teacher to another.
This is a great idea! For my daughter, I made a "Memory"-style game with upper and lower case letters. We didn't play with the whole set at once, because that was a LOT of cards for a 3 year old to work with, but she enjoyed it!
Melissa,
I hear you! I'm not really "concerned" about Big Brother knowing his uppercase and lower-case letters…it is just something that HE is really interested in. He LOVES any activity involving letters, so that is what we chose to do. I changed the wording at the top of the post to convey that this is not something 3-year olds NEED to know, just something he enjoys.
I think his teacher will have PLENTY to work on with him…gross and fine motor control and learning to not take toys away from other people! That poor woman/man will have her work cut out for her! ;)
I will have to try this. My (almost 3 year old) daughter also loves letters and she would love this. I agree with your last comment, she may know her letters, but there are a lot of other things she will have to work on when she gets to school.
I think it's great that you teach your kids things that they are interested in. I don't think you should hold knowledge back from your kids if they are ready and interested. Keep up the good work and good idea! I knew how to read before I entered kindergarten and I always did my brothers homework right along side him (he was two years older than I was) all throughout elementary because I was interested. I never felt that it hindered me at all, in fact it provided me with opportunities to serve and help those in my class that were behind.
Hey Jenae, I really do enjoy reading the various activities that you do with your kids and it makes me wonder how I can be better organized with planning and doing activities. do you do your activities on a whim or do you plan them out? I don't want to get too specific with planning at the young ages my kids are, because they do need to have some flexibility (especially with our lives), but I don't want to forget about guiding them and helping them. thoughts?
Great idea! What about using Post-its for the lower case letters! I'm going to try this! Thanks!
Melissa,
Thanks for your question! I actually don't plan in advance…almost everything we do is on a whim! I wish I was one of those people who plans everything days, weeks, and months in advance, but I'm not…at least not in this phase of life. I would just concentrate on doing something intentional for 10-15 minutes each day with each of your children. It doesn't sound like much, but even that little bit will do a world of good!
Love this activity!! My son is also very interested in letters, so this would be fun to try. Maybe we'll do a shamrock variation on it later this week!
CUTE activity. We'll have to try it!